1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a mobile cart having discrete removable shelves and structure for holding the shelves in the cart during transit, and to a shelf for this cart.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Carts are being tried and tested for shipment and retailing of plants and flowers. A wholesaler is a typical owner and user of the cart. The cart needs to have adjustable height discrete shelves. The shelves are taken in and out and are placed in the cart frame to best accommodate the specific mix of plants and flowers. Some plants and flowers are tall, some are short. A cart might be set up with six shelves, or with two shelves.
The properly set shelves are loaded with an appropriate mix of plants and flowers, and the loaded cart may then be shrink wrapped to hold in moisture. Most wholesalers do not shrink wrap, but some do; it depends upon the mix, the weather and market demands.
The loaded cart is then eventually placed upon a truck and trucked to a retailer's facility where the loaded cart is taken off the truck and then eventually pushed to a retailing situs, where the flowers and plants are sold directly off the cart. This type of retailing is commonly being tested by large florist chains and in the malls of shopping centers.
The problem is that during transit the shelves jump up and down and in and out of cart frames. The flowers and dirt with the plants are thrown around and the loaded cart ends up being a dirty mess that needs to be unloaded, cleaned and reloaded and rearranged before it can be used for retailing. The flower and plant industry wants these problems solved.